Fall is for Projects... and Granola

Summer was blissful.

But, like any other mom who needs to nurture her urges to plan, by late summer I was creating my list of "things I'll do when..." One of those being "when the kids are back in school."

I've been playing with color. So fun to see how swapping out one color block changes the dynamic.

 

I'm shamelessly ripping off an idea from Amanda and Mary Beth in making a Good Folks throw blanket. I ordered fat quarter bundles of this vivid set of fabrics directly from the designer, Anna Maria Horner. Would you ever put these colors and patterns together? I sure wouldn't. I have a long, long history as a color-phobe. I'm sure I'm not alone in that dirty little secret...

I recruited a little helper for the pinning. Seemed like a better use of our time than spending another hour trying to get her to nap.

If you peeked at either of those above links to stories about finished blankets, you may have noticed there was no how-to, no tutorial detailing the assembly of this blanket. Being a newbie sewer, this was slightly intimidating, but I have to admit that stitching squares together has to be among the easiest of projects.

I cut my fat quarters into 16" squares in my typical way, a slice here, a slice there, run to move the laundry, another cut, fetch the baby after naptime, one more cut, and it's time to pick up the kids at school! Such a relaxing hobby.

I'm waiting for my batting to be delivered, and then I'll figure out how to finish this off, likely using an old bedsheet for the back fabric.

I've also been doing a bunch of batch cooking: make two, freeze one. Spinach and leek lasagna, macaroni and cheese, chicken enchiladas, and stove-top pot roast.

Another big project was settling into a new desk corner. My temporary sofa table solution was really backfiring when the toddler figured out how to climb on the sofa herself and yank all the cords out of the monitor. So I followed the cues and moved my electronics to a safe(r) zone. Moving the family control tower was not a quick project (and, by the way, have I erroneously given the impression that any of my projects are quick?). See, I do have a sanded and primed craigslist find out on the driveway (thank you, sweet hubby). Which means I might be making a second move sometime in the future. Or maybe not. Anyhow, it does interfere with blog updates...

And I am still just ruthlessly obsessed with making granola. I'll share my latest recipe, a slight variation on my last, which is so cleverly titled "New Granola." I guess the next version will have to be "Even Newer Granola." Enjoy.

New Granola
Fills 3-5 quart jars.

Liquid Ingredients:
3/4 cup oil (I usually use canola but 1/2 cup coconut + 1/4 cup canola is delicious)
1/2 cup honey (I prefer clover or orange blossom)
1/2 cup maple syrup (I prefer Grade B)

Dry Ingredients:
9 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or 1 cup whole wheat flour + 1/2 cup flaxmeal)
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup flaked coconut (I prefer unsweetened but it's hard to find)
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 325F. Combine the liquid ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Add the dry ingredients to the liquids and stir to evenly distribute. Spread the mixture over two half sheet pans lightly covered with nonstick spray. (For a crispier granola, use three half sheet pans.) Bake for 20 min; for best results bake one sheet at a time. Store in the pantry in a well-sealed container.

Zucchini Walnut Muffins

Recently I was asked to give some motherhood advice to my daughter's pregnant teacher. Among a few other thoughts, I mentioned that having a simple and quick muffin recipe was a sanity saver for me. I've really lost my taste for most processed foods, but with a young infant - or, frankly, with kids of any age - you really have to have some grab-and-go options unless you're willing to go hungry. That's not my game; I enjoy the delights of food far too much to go hungry!

My go-to muffin recipe is an all-around winner from a 1994 cookbook that I use at least weekly: Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day. A recipe titled "Muffin Madness" provides a basic set of wet and dry ingredients, followed by four different flavor combinations. Zucchini walnut muffins are a favorite in our house. Seriously, these are so delicious I never even had a chance to take a photo of a baked one! Give this a whirl. Then treat yourself to a lifetime of great quick recipes and pick up the book.

Zucchini Walnut Muffins
(adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day)
Makes 12.

2 large eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
scant 1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini (about 2 small or 1 large zucchini)
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, brown sugar, and vanilla;  stir in zucchini. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom. Gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined, being careful not to overmix the batter. Fold in walnuts.

Spoon or scoop the batter into an oiled muffin tin, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until puffed and golden. (Reduce the baking to 10 to 15 minutes for mini-muffin tins.) A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.

Chocolate Hazelnut Brownies

Crazy good. So good that I just left the computer to eat the last one. I'm not even that nuts about chocolate! I found these brownies in Sunset magazine this month. Love love love Sunset. It's homemaking and beyond. And it shows me gardens I could actually have - were budget not an issue - because no matter how much I like hostas or cherry trees they aren't growing in my desert backyard. If you live in the Southwest and have an itch to travel soon, pick up this issue.

My sous-chef was available for this one. (I'm noticing a recurring theme with the kids turning up to help when treats are involved.) We used almost three individually-wrapped dark chocolate bars from Trader Joe's 100-calorie package. And the Scharffen Berger cocoa I've been saving for something special. Really, I can't think of a more decadent way to get your antioxidants. Take it from my boy: "Chocolate is good for your heart, Mom."

This couldn't be easier. We made the whole thing in a 4-cup glass measuring cup. I highly recommend eating one warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some sliced strawberries.

Chocolate Hazelnut Brownies
tweaked from Sunset, May 2010
Makes 8 large brownies.

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 ounces dark chocolate, broken into pieces
3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup Nutella (to be scraped in by tablespoonfuls)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line or spray 8 muffin cups. Microwave butter in a heatproof bowl or measuring cup to melt. Add chocolate pieces, stirring until melted. Add sugar and cocoa and stir to blend. Whisk in eggs, vanilla and salt. Add flour and stir until smooth. Spoon batter evenly into muffin cups. Drop tablespoon of Nutella into center of each brownie, pressing down slightly. Bake until a toothpick inserted into brownie (not Nutella) comes out with just a few moist crumbs, 20-28 minutes (28 in my oven). Let pan cool on a rack about 10 minutes before eating.

Quick Meal Friday: Chocolate Chip Cookies?!

I bought the April issue of Martha Stewart Living. In the grocery check-out line. Total impulse buy. Never should have happened. I know.


But here's the real confession: I made the chocolate chip cookies in that issue for dinner. Yes, for dinner. Of course I made the kids look like they were eating the preceding Amy's Mac and Cheese and baby carrots. Not sure if I ever managed to eat any growing food of my own before devouring a half dozen of these.

Because these cookies are that good.

Lemon Almond Cake

I made a cake for dessert a couple times recently. Just for regular-old dinners. No one's birthday, nothing interesting to celebrate, although someone did learn how to do a cartwheel here recently. We don't eat dessert very often so I surprised the whole crew right to smiles. I didn't want to exclude Baby, who is still not eating dairy protein. No dairy, no cake, right? How do you make a cake worth eating without butter or buttermilk or sour cream?

Thinking About Soda Bread

When I lived in Limerick, Ireland way back when (it really just can't be possible that was 18 years ago), I regularly ate the most delicious scones. I would treat myself to a bakery trip once a week on my very long walk from Mary Immaculate College to the bus stop near Henry and Roches Sts. That whole 4-month stay seems a bit cloudy as I'm shocked to see the length of that walk on the Google maps I had no access to in 1992!

I cannot recall what my single scone cost but know it was a significant dip into my shrinking savings for this study abroad trip, as well as a block or two off that daily route. To step in that warm bakery smelling of cream pastries in my rain-soaked jeans... It was one day of heaven in a wet and lonely week!

One of my housemates in my dorm at University of Limerick had a knack for cooking. She could imagine what she wanted to eat and just make it happen. I can do that now, after years of practice, but it is a testament to the differences in our upbringings that she was able to do so at the tender age of 18. I asked her to teach me to make Irish scones, noting that they were so different from what I knew in America. What did she want to learn from me? Chocolate chip cookies and macaroni and cheese. A true cultural exchange.

Rainy Day Baking

I adore oats (akin to this lovely post from Catherine Newman), and I love the added bonuses of it being a nutritional powerhouse as well as an ingredient my kids will always eat. Really, you should try Catherine's recipe for instant oatmeal - so delicious and so not $4 for 8 packets of a zillion ingredients.

Granola. Yum. This tastes so so delicious with almond milk, my new breakfast drink of choice in my temporarily dairy-free life. Won't bore anyone with getting into it, but I am sorely missing my daily cheese. Maybe I'm trying out granola as a cheese replacement. Tough competition.

I like my granola a bit crunchy, but not quite a full snap at the teeth. I also like a mild sweetness, but I'm not the mom who makes separate "kid food" so I work with a sugar level everyone finds acceptable. And my kiddos do not approve of little raisins or date pieces or cranberries or any other dried fruits hiding in the mix so I deal (although I do buzz quite a few of those sneaky treats in their instant oatmeal - shhh!). For a long while, we were enjoying the Nutty Granola from Ellie Krieger's book, The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life.

Now that's a delicious recipe. But since each small batch calls for a full 1/2 cup of maple syrup, which was $14 for the big bottle the last time I was at Trader Joe's, an adaptation was in order. We are not calorie-counters so substituting some canola oil for that moist maple syrup was fine by me, but I couldn't eliminate the maple flavor all together. At least for our oatmeal-loving household, I think this granola hits the mark on all counts. Until I move on to the next great thing!

Here's my latest favorite granola, adapted from probably every granola recipe I've ever read:

Preheat oven to 300F.

Mix the following together in a large bowl:

2 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp water

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup canola or other neutral oil

Then stir in:

2 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

1/2 cup wheat germ

3/4-1 cup mixed nuts (we use sliced almonds, and chopped walnuts and pecans)

pinch of salt

Toss to combine and spread in a half-sheet pan. Bake at 300F for 45-50 min. The granola will continue to crisp up as it cools. Store in a sealed container in the fridge. It won't last long!